


In the Blood

by Mikkeneko



Series: Cold Iron [3]
Category: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: M/M, Nihon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-11
Updated: 2010-10-11
Packaged: 2017-10-12 14:27:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/125823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mikkeneko/pseuds/Mikkeneko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Celes, Kurogane and Fai have to adjust to the changes that have come between them. Fortunately, not all of the changes are bad.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Blood

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is set in Nihon, and because it's an AU already, I'm going to declare that the boys got at least ONE day of friggin' rest between when Kurogane got his new arm and Seishirou crashed the party.

The moon showed it was well after midnight, but Kurogane wasn't sleeping. Partly because his right shoulder throbbed dully where the artificial arm met the skin, but mostly because he had too damn much to think about.

Like the fact that he _had_ a right arm again.

Like the fact that he was home.

Like the fact that his companions, the kid and the princess and the manjuu and _Fai_ , were all here with him.

As though his thoughts had summoned him up, he recognized the aura of the figure standing in the hall a moment before the shouji door cracked open.

"I wondered if you'd show up," Kurogane said without looking away from the window.

The wizard -- no, he supposed he couldn't call him that any more -- paused, and then came the rest of the way into the room. "Well, I wasn't sure if you were asleep," he said, a smile in his voice.

"No." Kurogane turned to look at him. The man was dressed in the same light yukata that he'd been wearing when Kurogane had awoken; it looked strange on him, alien, and he moved a little awkwardly in it. It occurred to Kurogane to wonder how much, if anything, he was wearing under it; he looked away, embarrassed.

It didn't help when the vampire crossed the room the rest of the way and sat down on the edge of Kurogane's bed. "I thought I'd do a little visiting," he said, his voice light and careless. Kurogane wasn't naive enough to think that _visiting_ in his bedroom in the middle of the night was anything other than what it sounded like, and any doubt there might have been was dispelled when Fai leaned over, cupped his hand over Kurogane's jaw, and kissed him.

Half a dozen different feelings vied for space in Kurogane's mind, the uppermost being relief that Fai was going to take the initiative and that he would not need to ask. Kurogane raised his left hand to cover Fai's, tangling their fingers together, and leaned back a little. "So," he said, and cleared his throat a little. "Am I forgiven?"

Fai looked a little surprised, and his smile faded. He looked down at their joined hands. "Funny you should say that," he said, a touch of uncertainty in his voice despite the attempt at levity. "I actually came here to ask you the same thing."

It was hard to know how to answer that, how to pack so much frustation and fear and anger and grief and betrayal and love into a simple articulate phrase, so answered in the only way he knew how; "Don't be stupid," he said, and pulled the wizard towards him.

Fai pushed him back against the blankets, climbing fully on top of the bed to straddle either side of Kurogane's legs and lean over him. Kurogane went willingly enough, still tired and depleted from the last world; the Piffle world technology had replaced the lost arm, but it hadn't done anything about the blood loss that had nearly killed him.

The arm... Reminded, Kurogane bit back a curse as he forced his right arm to drop back against the bed. He wanted to touch -- to return touches -- to hold Fai's body against his, but he could not. He'd had enough of hurting Fai unintentionally, and besides, he didn't think burning his lover was going to do much to enhance the mood.

The other man sensed his hesitation and flinch, though, because he leaned back, his eye wide and expression serious in the moonlight. "Kuro-sama?" he asked in a concerned tone. "Is something wrong? Is..." He hesitated, his eyes going down to Kurogane's shoulder. "Is the arm hurting you?"

"No," Kurogane replied, more anger in his voice than he would have liked. "I don't want to hurt _you._ This arm -- it's steel, you know that."

Fai smiled; a slow, sweet smile that spread across his face like a sunrise. He leaned down, hands braced on the mattress on either side of Kurogane's shoulders, until his forehead touched Kurogane's. "Kuro-chan," he murmured, voice full of gentle humor, "Think."

"Think about what?" Kurogane replied gruffly, trying to cover for the fact that he couldn't think very clearly about anything right now with Fai's body covering his like this.

"Why did iron burn me?"

"Because you're a mage," Kurogane said immediately, then stopped, confused. "Well... I mean, I don't know! You're the one who understands it, you explain it to me."

"Because of my magic," Fai corrected him. "Because magic was a part of me, and it doesn't react well to iron... but what did I give the witch in payment for this arm?"

"Your --" Kurogane broke off and stared up at Fai's single, warmly glinting, golden eye. "You mean..."

Fai nodded, the pleased smile growing on his face. "I'm just like a normal person, now," he said. "I can touch iron, and it doesn't bother me at all." In demonstration, he laid his hand gently on the metal arm. Kurogane couldn't feel anything through it, but just watching the contact sent a shock up his spine.

"You'll never be a normal person," Kurogane grumbled, but he was too distracted to put much rancor into it.

Fai leaned his weight on Kurogane's arm, pressing his shoulder back into the mattress. His other hand slid behind Kurogane's neck, moved up to tangle in the hair behind his head. "I can touch..." He pulled Kurogane up to meet him in a kiss. "All I want to, now," he whispered into Kurogane's mouth.

And so could he. Kurogane brought his hands -- both hands, the warm and the cold -- to settle on Fai's hips, and returned the kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> In case there's anyone in the TRC fandom who doesn't already know the meaning of Kurogane's name, it means 'Black Steel' -- which would have been off-limits to Fai while he still had his magic. So what Fai saying here is that now that he's free of the burdens and secrets of his past, he's free to touch Kurogane in a way that he wasn't, before.


End file.
